Canada makes History with World Cup Team
Win

For the first time in the history
of the IRF World Championships (established in 1981), Team Canada has earned
the World Cup team title outright. In 1986 -- without a tiebreaking procedure
-- the U.S. and Canada had shared the Cup, but today's team round went down to
the wire to give Team Canada their victory, following a tiebreaker win by Mike
Ceresia and Mike Green over Ruben Gonzalez and Mike Guidry in doubles.

When the U.S. and Canada split in
their singles playoffs earlier this afternoon, the doubles matches became
crucial. The U.S. women's team of Kersten Hallander and Kim Russell did their
best to keep a safe distance in the point spread, but lost the first game of
their match to Canada's Amanda Macdonald and Karina Odegard. Later the deciding
match became the tiebreaker between Ceresia/Green and Gonzalez/Guidry -- the
winning team would clinch the team title with a total number of games won
between the two squads. The final tally: Canada-9, USA-8.

Top-ranked Canadian Christie Van
Hees earned a grudge match victory over Cheryl Gudinas -- who captured Van
Hees' world singles crown earlier in the week -- in a 15-13, 15-13 straight
game win to pull Canada to a 2-1 lead in today's playoff. Both players seemed a
bit the worse for wear after the full week of play, with Van Hees taking a time
out for ice therapy early in the second game, and Gudinas wearing a protective
taping to keep her right patella aligned.

Canada's #2 singles player, Brian
Istace, came from behind in the opening points of his first two games against
Doug Eagle, winning the first 15-8, then dropping the second 15-11. But in the
deciding third, Istace was dominant in securing the first win of the day for
Team Canada, 11-3.

In the first of six crucial USA vs.
Canada matches today, Jackie Paraiso of San Diego, California won her #2
singles match over counterpart Lori-Jane Powell of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
in a tiebreaker of 15-7, 10-15, 11-1.

Individual World Titles
Awarded

The individual competition
concluded on Tuesday, August 8, at the International Racquetball Federation's
10th World Championships in San Lois Potosi, Mexico, with the USA sweeping the
women's gold medals, while Mexico captured its first world titles in men's
action.

Host country Mexico made history by
winning its first world championship title in not one, but two gold medal
finals and sweeping the men's divisions. Mexico's Alvaro Beltran, seeded No.7,
logged impressive wins over numerous top-ranked players en route to the finals,
then capped his string of upsets by defeating the USA's Rocky Carson, of Santa
Maria, Calif.. Top-seeded Carson lost the first game to Beltran, 15-10, but
came back to win the second 15-12 and force the tiebreaker. However, the home
crowd motivated Beltran to the 11-6 tiebreaker victory, and his country's first
World Championship gold medal.

The Mexican men's doubles team
quickly followed in their teammate's footsteps. Luis Bustillos and Javier
Moreno, both former World Intercollegiate champions, handed the USA a
devastating loss, as they defeated Ruben Gonzalez (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Mike Guidry (Carrollton, Texas) in two straight games, 15-13, 15-10.

The women's singles gold medal
match paired off North American rivals Canada's Christie Van Hees and the USA's
Cheryl Gudinas (Lisle, Ill.). The two last faced off in the finals of the 1999
Pan American Games, where Gudinas captured the gold medal in a controversial
11-10 tiebreaker.

As the reigning world champion, Van
Hees started off with a powerful first game, winning 15-7, however Gudinas
managed to squeak out a 15-14 second-game victory to force a tiebreaker. As at
the Pan Am Games, the two fierce rivals battled to an 11-10 tiebreaker, with
Gudinas once again pulling out the win. The victory gives Gudinas, 33, her
first world championship singles title.

The USA's women's doubles team of
Kersten Hallander (San Diego, Calif.) and Kim Russell (Austin, Texas) was also
victorious in their gold medal match, defeating Canada's Amanda MacDonald and
Karina Odegard. However, just as their teammate did, the USA duo dropped the
first game, 15-11, but rallied back in the second, winning 15-5. Their momentum
carried into the tiebreaker, where Hallander and Russell took the gold medal,
11-7. This marks the first world championship title for both women. Hallander
was a silver medalist in singles at the last World Championships in 1998.

The USA's Jackie Paraiso (El Cajon,
Calif.) took the bronze medal in women's singles, while teammate Doug Eagle
(Houston, Texas) lost the men's bronze to Canada's Brian Istace. The Canadian
men also captured the doubles bronze medal. The Bolivian women defeated the Pan
Am Games bronze medalist from Chile in the women's doubles to capture the
bronze.

The athletes will take Wednesday
off to rest before beginning the World Cup competition, where each player's
performance is crucial in earning points for their country. The USA has won the
World Cup every year, except for 1986 when they shared the World Cup title with
Canada.